natural sciences capstone

[plaidwandering]

Has anyone pursuing a BA in natural sciences from TESU done a capstone with them for it? I read a syllabus and it almost seems like they expect novel research(answer question in an unexplored or underdeveloped area), which is not really possible without facilities.

[cookderosa]

Has anyone pursuing a BA in natural sciences from TESU done a capstone with them for it? I read a syllabus and it almost seems like they expect novel research(answer question in an unexplored or underdeveloped area), which is not really possible without facilities.

I can't imagine they expect research, not for an undergrad capstone, especially as a distance learning student. You might want to email them directly for clarification.

[davewill]

If this is the same LIB-495 that I needed for my BACS, there are a couple of long threads on people's experiences.

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...-tesc.html

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...dback.html

And no, you don't have to do original research, I didn't.

[plaidwandering]

Thanks, I read the longs threads and one of the prior threads is where I found the mention of the under/unexplored areas.

[davewill]

Thanks, I read the longs threads and one of the prior threads is where I found the mention of the under/unexplored areas.

I took that to mean you had to be exploring something new to YOU. So that you were stretching your knowledge...which there's no real way to enforce. For instance for my Capstone, I explored distracted driving and in-vehicle infotainment. The research was either crash statistics, empirical testing of individual features or modes of input, or effectiveness of automated warning systems. My paper took all this into account to make conclusions about how developers should approach infotainment design going forward. I didn't do any original research, but I did come to my own conclusions that were separate from the available research. I'm sure there are papers out there with a similar focus, but I didn't use them.

[plaidwandering]

Is one able to exclusively use online databases, journals, and other resources to do the capstone? Or do they want you to have your hands on some physical books as well?

[davewill]

Is one able to exclusively use online databases, journals, and other resources to do the capstone? Or do they want you to have your hands on some physical books as well?

No, I used the online databases exclusively. I didn't find the need to do so, but the possibility exists I could have needed to order papers that weren't available free. In my case, a published book was unlikely to be very useful as I didn't want other people's opinions or conclusions, just data on the dangers and how different technologies affected safety.

[happydayruth]

I can't imagine they expect research, not for an undergrad capstone, especially as a distance learning student. You might want to email them directly for clarification.

I think this really depends on which mentor you have. My mentor insisted that we conduct our own "original" research, which did not necessarily mean in an unresearched area, but rather meant that we conducted our own surveys and/or interviews. He placed a high level of emphasis on this as "preparation" for graduate level research. But I have heard of other mentors who do not require this.

Is one able to exclusively use online databases, journals, and other resources to do the capstone? Or do they want you to have your hands on some physical books as well?

I used both. But I think exclusively online resources are perfectly fine.

[jsd]

My mentor insisted that we conduct our own "original" research, which did not necessarily mean in an unresearched area, but rather meant that we conducted our own surveys and/or interviews.

For a 12-week course, that's kind of absurd. Who was your mentor?

[happydayruth]

For a 12-week course, that's kind of absurd. Who was your mentor?

I had Caicco. I don't think that requirement is unique to him only, although as I mentioned I've heard of others who make original research optional. I actually really enjoyed the experience. It is obviously *not* graduate-level given the time contraints, but it gave a good taste of what the process is like and in my case, it gave me a lot of data to work with that I was very interested in for my project and my field. I learned a lot.